One Moment
by shadowhuntingdauntlessdemigod
Summary: Tag to 13x23, spoilers. For one single moment, everything is right with the world. Sam sees the smile spread across Dean's face, and allows himself to momentarily forget that he's got an evil archangel riding shotgun, because he wants this moment to last. But as usual, it all comes crashing down far too quickly.


_There are spoilers for the season 13 finale here, so read at your own risk. Not really sure where this came from, it was just an idea at seeing how happy the brothers were for the .5 seconds they were allotted and how quickly it all got taken away again. That being said, can't wait to see what season 14 has in store *same with Jensen's acting*. Thoughts on the finale? And reviews are always appreciated!_

 _I don't own Supernatural._

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For one single moment, just five or so fleeting seconds, everything is right with the world. Is it perfect? No, it's far from it. But right, yeah, things can pass as being right. Because Lucifer is dead. Because the Winchester brothers and Jack got rid of him, finally, after years of torment. Because they have Mom back, safe and sound in their own universe, in their home. Because they have Charlie and Bobby back to a degree, and they have refugees from a war zone that get a second shot at life.

For those five seconds, the Winchesters have everything they've been fighting for.

Sam sees the smile spread across Dean's face, and allows himself to momentarily forget that he's got an evil archangel riding shotgun, because he wants this moment to last. He wants the smile on his and his brother's faces to last. He wants this feeling of victory to last. He wants to fix Jack up, get back to the bunker, and take that much-needed vacation that Dean had been talking about.

The devil is dead, and the second coming of the apocalypse is over. While it didn't cause the end of the universe as it had for Michael back home (possibly because the two warring archangels were from different universes, but Sam doesn't really know and doesn't want to think about the technicalities of why their world didn't just end), it did cause the end of the reign of terror Lucifer had put forth.

They all did it together, even though Dean delivered the final blow. They stuck through it as a family, and Sam can't wait to get back to Cas and tell them that their universe will be better off. Sam can't remember the last time he or Dean smiled this wide. Hell, Sam even lets out the smallest of silent laughs, purely out of relief and thankfulness that a weight has finally been taken off all their shoulders. Lucifer is dead, he can't hurt any of them again, and it's a moment Sam often wondered about ever coming to pass.

The sheer relief of the situation floods over all of them like a tidal wave.

And then the moment passes.

And it all comes crashing down around him. All his emotions, hopes of peace, accomplishments, everything.

Because Dean, the proud and stalwart Michael sword, suddenly caves under the weight of the archangel inside him. The smile vanishes from both their faces as Dean begins the war in his own mind that Sam has had firsthand experience with. For eight years, it has been a victory that Dean has never had to fight the same war.

His brother is the strongest person he knows, if anyone can keep Michael at bay until they come up with another plan, it's Dean. Sam has faith in that. He has to.

But as usual, faith in anything doesn't get him anywhere.

"We had a deal!" Dean yells, because he's still Dean, his voice reverberating around them. It's low and desperate, a clear marker that he's fighting with everything in him to keep Michael in the passenger's seat. But the fight doesn't last long. When Dean straightens, Sam can see immediately that it isn't _Dean_ anymore. It's his brother's face, his brother's scars, his brother's clothes, all being inhabited by an evil being.

For a split second, Sam wonders if this is how Dean felt when he said yes to Lucifer all those years ago. When Sam straightened and wan't _Sam_ anymore, did Dean feel this helpless and lost and crushed? Of course he did.

Michael's smirking now, turning up the corners of Dean's mouth in a gesture that should be familiar to Sam, but instead, is alien. The little ticks in his facial features, the way his eyes lazily and happily scan over the room, it's all _wrong._

"Thanks for the suit," is all he says, speaking to Dean more than the suddenly devastated younger brother and the de-powered nephilim watching him. Sam immediately gets a mental image of Dean trapped in his own head, banging on the walls and screaming to be let out, trying with all his power and will to eject the angel. But Michael wins.

And in one more moment, he's gone. Vanished. Disappeared with a flap of his wings that had flashed on the wall, a visual representation of the protector Dean's been all his life. Only he's never had angel wings to do his job before, not that he's ever needed them.

For one single moment, everything in Sam's life was as it should have been. But he should have known that it would never, could never last.

Because in the next moment, his whole life has been torn from him again, and he's left standing in a church with the dead devil at his feet but no feeling of happiness or relief and no brother to share any of it with.

Michael's in the wind, about to wreak havoc on their world, with Dean in the back seat, gagged and bound, and for the moment, there's absolutely nothing Sam can do. The devil may be gone, but Sam still feels just as helpless as ever.


End file.
